A Tale of a Baskerville
by Ranyo Malight
Summary: "Have you seen my Master?" Oz said to Gil. "Have you seen Glen?" Oz disappears from under the watchful eyes of Pandora, and reappears with the Baskervilles. What's going on? Rated M for language and possible sexual references .
1. Prologue Mad World

A Tale of a Baskerville

(A/N: Ah, the bliss of coming up with an idea that is story worthy. Now, let's just see if this is popular with everyone else….

In any case, for information's sake, this takes place before the party at Isla Yura's mansion, so that that whole thing hasn't happened yet. Which means that Liam (whatever you want to call him. Frankly, that's what I'm going to call him.) didn't almost die but Break is blind. (Sharon doesn't know just yet but she will probably find out.)

Now, enough with my mindless babble and let me get onto the prologue! Allonsy!)

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Prologue – The thoughts of the non self-proclaimed "Reborn Hero" Oz Vessalius (or 'Mad World')

It was a soft sort of day, one usually spent outside, but not for Oz. Not today at least. Today found himself sitting, partially curled up on a window bench, overlooking a beautiful rose garden. The sight, to him, was sweet and, at the same time, sickening. He had a sort of hate towards roses, always taking the beauty out of all the other flowers around it, hiding the ones that he believed were much more beautiful. Like the Sun Flower. As droopy as it was, it was ten times more beautiful than the Rose, in Oz's personal opinion. Hell even the more "ugly" flowers were better looking than the Rose.

Oz could have gone on much the same, listing flowers he liked much better than the Rose, but his concentration was broken by a knock at the door. "Oz~! I have some tea for you." Xerxes Break practically sang, dancing into the room with a small tea set balanced on top of his head. Hat in his hands, and filled with sweet things of course, Xerxes Break started setting up the tea on the balcony. Oz stood up and stretched himself out before following the odd contractor. "Cake? Or a Pastry? Or better yet, a pastry cake?" Xerxes Break asked of Oz, who didn't answer him for a moment. "I'm not hungry Break." He muttered, hiding his slight anger behind a smile. Break faltered for a moment, before continuing. "Nonsense! We have to fatten you up!" Break said, continuing. "Or would you like Alice to know about your secret?" He said, smiling secretively. "S-Secret?" Oz said, looking taken aback slightly. Did Break know?

"Yes, secret. The secret that you…" Break said, leaning over the table and closer to Oz, continuing his sentence. "Like to wear girl's clothes." Oz slipped, using the chair on his side to stand back up. "No I don't! And you know it!" Oz said, blushing slightly in embarrassment. Break and his silly thoughts and ideas. "Then what's this picture of?" Break asked innocently, holding up a picture of younger Oz in a dress, Gil looking mortified that his master was dressed in such a way. Oz colored some more, making a grab for the picture but was unsuccessful in getting it. "Where'd you get that!" Oz questioned loudly, growling slightly, much to Break's amusement. "Ah, a certain dear Uncle." Was all he said, tucking the picture away. "For now, Oz, let us break for tea." He said, smiling cat-like.

Oz rolled his eyes but nodded, sitting down in his usual spot. "Fine, Break, but this is the last time I do so." He said, crossing his arms as the older man set up a cup of tea for the child (in his eyes. Oz was so young..*cough cough from the Authoress* Ah, yes back to the story~). "You said the same thing last time, dear Oz." He said, chuckling. "Oh. How'd I forget the sugar?" Break said, sounding down trodden. "I'll be right back." He said, frowning slightly as he briskly walked out of the room, in search of the ever elusive sugar bowl.

Meanwhile, Oz had sat back, looking confused as well. Break never forgot the sugar. Ever. Even when there was no sugar to be found elsewhere in the house, did he forget sugar. Oz stood up, and approached the railing. He might as well appraise the garden again. He still thought it ugly. If it belonged to him, he would fill it with sunflowers, and daisies and other "ugly" flowers. It certainly needed the color, instead of drab white. Even red would be better, he mused to himself, leaning against the railing as he waited for Break to return. His eyes drooped slightly as he thought to himself that there was a sun flower sitting in the middle of the garden suddenly, the roses having moved to show it. He was hallucinating, of course, but he didn't know that.

He didn't notice when a sort of small "crick" sounded, followed by another and another. By this time, he had fallen asleep. It was only when he felt rushing air upon his face and through his hair that he woke, letting loose a terrified scream. The scream resounded in his own ears, even as he thumped heavily to the ground upon a cushion of roses; even as his blood stained the roses a dark red; even as no one seemed to notice his scream. He wasn't found right away. It was a stroke of luck, really, that Alice had happened to be looking for Oz at that moment, and had walked out onto the immaculate balcony, eying the tea table. So clean, was the tea table…

Alice had walked forward, shrugging to herself as she went to look at the Rose Garden. Maybe she would find him later-

But it was not fated that way. She looked down, only to find her contractor seemingly dead, blood red flowers around and under him. She screamed, for Break, for Gilbert, for anyone, gripping the railing hard. How did she not sense…? Gilbert should have at least. Or she should have disappeared back into Abyss. Confusion etched onto her face, she waited for someone to come. She couldn't take her eyes off of the scene below her. It was…horrific, in a way. The roses, once white, cushioned Oz's body, as if cradling him. Some of the vines/stems had wrapped themselves around his hands and legs, and his head. It was an odd sort of picture, as if they wanted to protect Oz, though from what, she didn't know.

Break, Gilbert, and Liam barged into the room moments later, just as confused as Alice. She had stayed on the balcony, so the three headed to her. "What in god's name-" Liam said, unhappy about being dragged away from his paperwork before he registered the scene before him. He covered his mouth, eyes wide. "We-We need to get him out of there." Gilbert said for him, eyes wide as well but staying calm (for once). Break nodded in agreement, ushering Alice out of the room. He couldn't see what had happened, but he knew that something was wrong, possibly with Oz. He had just been preparing their usual afternoon tea as well….

Liam took a deep breath, calming himself. "Raven. Go to Oscar and tell him what has happened. I will gather other Pandora members to help me get Oz out of there." He said, voice shaky. Something felt…wrong with the scene. Terribly wrong. "No, Liam, let me-"

"_**Go!"**_

Gilbert seemed taken back. "Or do you want to hurt your master further?" Liam said, calming his voice down. He hadn't meant to snap at Raven. "Fine." He said, before taking off. Liam knew too well that Raven would only hamper the efforts to get Oz out of the roses, so he set him to a task that would keep him occupied. Oscar would know what to do with him. Oscar always knew…

Alice, though, couldn't be placated by Break's excuses that Oz was only playing a joke on them and that he would be ok. Instead, she had snuck away from the man, and went back to Liam, stating that she wanted to help. Liam looked at her and knew, almost instantly, that she wouldn't give up so easily. Giving up wasn't in her nature. So, he accepted her help, the help of the teary-eyed B-Rabbit.

Maybe his sense of wrongfulness was wrong in and of itself….

To be continued…

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Pandora Postscript! *Pandora chibi's parade around, wearing their usual getups, except Oz, who has roses wrapped around him* Thank you! *they all say, some grinning, others looking nervous*

:O *excited* I can't believe I wrote so much. Three whole pages of just a prologue. So, what did you guys think? I won't demand reviews, but they would be much appreciated. *dance* How do you guys think I am doing so far with the characters? I tried to stay as in character as I could, but I don't know how well I did with Liam and Raven when they find Oz. *makes a face* But this authoress is trying, so don't give up on me. *pose*

This will be posted on both Fanfiction and Deviant art, so I will post both my names on here. Fanfiction is Ranyo Malight and Deviant art is Mitsuos-twin-sister. :D Message me if you have questions (or leave a review/comment) and I will get to you, I promise.

Reviewers get cookies btw. ;D

Sorry about Break interfering by the way. He wanted to make his opinions known... *goes off, and screams can be heard in the background*

Chibi Gil, looking nervous: Sorry about Ranyo-chan! And remember we don't own Pandora Hearts, just this story.

Chibi Oz: Yeah! And don't forget to review! *big, cute, grin*


	2. Chapter 1  Finding out the Truth

The Tale of a Baskerville – Chapter 1

(A/N: :D I'd like to thank applepie1989 for their review. It made my day~. Also, my thanks go out to mamoru3193, One of No Importance, and pur angel4 for either putting me on their alert list or putting my story in their favorites. One of No Importance: Thank you thank you thank you! I haven't gotten such an enthusiastic review for a fanfic in a lone while, so, for you, I decided to post early. ;D Seriously, it makes my day to know that my stories are loved. (A very big thanks goes to my sort of beta reader, Crys-nee-chan. I forget her name on here, but she and her sister are cosplayers of Pandora Hearts (Gilbert and B-Rabbit) and I've been showing this to her.)

As for the Deviant Art Thanks, I thank oz-bezarius-fangirl. Your comment made me happy~. As to junniperjazz44, thanks for faving~ I get super excited when I get favs. :D

Now, onto other news. My next college semester starts on Mon, Feb. 7th, which means that I am going to be busy on Mondays and Wednesdays, as well as the day in between probably. Most likely, if I post, it'll be on Thursday or Friday, or the weekend. If I'm in a good mood, I'll post sooner but otherwise I'll try to post weekly, but I don't know if I will be able to. My laptop went kaput, and my computer is getting there, so I'm taking my computer/desktop to get fixed.

Anyway, sorry for rambling. Chibi Gil reminds you that I don't own Pandora Hearts and that I only own the story idea and Chibi Oz reminds you to review/comment.

Allonsy!)

During the Prologue: Alice, though, couldn't be placated by Break's excuses that Oz was only playing a joke on them and that he would be ok. Instead, she had snuck away from the man, and went back to Liam, stating that she wanted to help. Liam looked at her and knew, almost instantly, that she wouldn't give up so easily. Giving up wasn't in her nature. So, he accepted her help, the help of the teary-eyed B-Rabbit.

Maybe his sense of wrongfulness was wrong in and of itself….

Chapter 1 – Finding out the Truth

Gil sat up quickly, panting. He'd had a night mare sometime during the night, but couldn't quite remember what it was about. All he knew, was that it startled him, made him want to go back to the simple days.

Running a hand through his hair, he attempted to wake up. In the earlier morning light, every shadow seemed to be a demon or an illegal contractor or even Break. The last one scared him for some reason, but he couldn't figure out why. He shook the confusion in his head away, concentrating on waking up. After a few minutes of trying not to fall back asleep, he stood up, letting the blanket fall back onto the bed. Why was he naked? He shrugged and went to take a bath. He didn't seem to be injured, so he figured he'd just gotten hot late in the night and undressed himself. Sitting in the bathtub, he let himself soak, thankful that the warm water was there.

Wait. How had it-

He was suddenly aware of the sounds of movement in the kitchen, and stumbled out of the bathtub, quickly grabbing a towel. Stumbling out into the kitchen, he stiffened. "Break!" He yelled, so high pitched it was almost a girly scream. "Ah~! You're awake!" He said cheerfully, the blind man looking in roughly his direction. Wasn't hard to hear where Gil was, seeing as he was panting. "Why are you here?" Gil said, frowning. Break blinked, confused and showing it. "What do you mean, why am I here? I'm here because Liam knew you needed someone to watch you and you agreed to it." Break explained, continuing his set up of the tea set. Break trusted Raven not to do anything drastic, and so had practically turned his back on him, in which Gil took the time to look at the tea set, his head suddenly throbbing. With the suddenness that the headache had come, came a brief flicker of memory, of Oz having tea with Break on a balcony, with the same tea set.

"Stop screwing with me Break and get out." Gil said finally, almost glaring. Break looked taken aback. "But Raven! Don't you remember what happened?" Gil shook his head, confusion coming back with his headache. "Just tell me already!" He shouted, already terrified about the news he didn't know but felt he should know. Break rolled his eyes and gave in to the other. "Fine fine, Raven. Seeing as you don't seem to remember, Oz disappeared." Break said, totally serious now, which was known to happen every so often.

Gilbert seemed taken back, and confused, the pounding in his head throbbing harder. More flashes divulged a few other pictures: Gil himself practically throwing a tantrum as Break broke the news to him(he saw this in third person for some reason), Alice crying as she slept, and Roses. He didn't know why the roses figured into the picture but he made a mental note of them. "No. No. He promised that he would drag me out shopping today. Me and that rabbit." He said, voice quiet and cracking. It couldn't be…

His night mare came back to him with full force, of Oz having tea with Break and some how falling off the balcony they were on into a bed of roses, of Alice disappearing in front of him, of all the other bad things happening, and of the worst, which was of- (Authoress: Can't divulge everything right off the bat ;D)

"Raven!" Break practically snapped, waking Raven up from his nightmare. Gilbert had passed out and started spasming, obviously in pain. "I hate to do this, but I'm going to give you some sedatives. To help you sleep. You haven't slept much recently." Break said, sighing. Gilbert nodded his head mutely, not knowing what to say.

He realized now that Break was right, that Oz had disappeared while they were rooming at one of the Nightray houses, Break finding this out since he was about to have tea with him. Alice hadn't disappeared yet, so he had to have been alive still, but they didn't know what had happened. Alice had also seemed to have gotten sick, complaining of aching all over and some other things. Break, pretending to be the resident doctor, forced her into bed with tea and soup, and some how convinced her to stay there.

Mean while, Liam had started a desperate search of the Nightray grounds, worried. Disappearing without a trace wasn't something Oz would do. He would disappear for a day, but never a few weeks on end. Never. "Now, off to bed, before Liam gets mad at me~!" Break sang, picking Gil up and depositing the naked man onto his bed. Moving away to grab a cup of water, he handed over some pills, Gil taking them without a second thought. He was out cold almost instantly.

The next few days were much the same, though Gilbert woke up at some point with the knowledge of what had happened and so mornings were a bit easier on the both of them, seeing as Gil didn't need the sedatives after that. Break eventually moved in, taking the spare bedroom as his sleeping quarters, much to Gil's annoyance. He claimed that that room was Oz's and that Rabbit's and that he shouldn't stay in there, but Break refused to listen to him. Gilbert got used to seeing the blind man around his house eventually, though he still asked on a daily basis for him to at least drape himself in a towel after bathing. He suspected that Break just enjoyed torturing him, even though he claimed to not have known that Gil was in the room. (Using his blindness as a excuse.) Gil himself got so out of it sometimes that he wandered around the shared house without clothes, Break taunting him for it by saying that he liked this look on him. Gil usually changed right away after those instances, having "woken up."

(Break Time! Sorry, but I had to mention this. I was writing this part at about 10:30 on Monday, and happened to be watching TV as well. Somehow, my mind connected the fanfic with the commercial I was watching and ended up with the image of Break as the Old Spice guy (Izayah Mustafah). I started rolling with laughter practically. Gawd, I'm random. In any case, back to writing. ;D

Oh, and sorry if the next few paragraphs are a bit bad. They are just filler paragraphs, to get things going. And, as my favorite late night host says, I look forward to your letters.)

Soon enough, Gil was able to function on his own, waking up every morning in a sort of trance and going to Pandora to help out. Once there, he had large amounts of coffee, which woke him up, and he proceeded to help Liam out, mostly with Break's paperwork. Anything to distract him. Break moved out a few days after figuring out that Gil wasn't going to do anything too drastic, settling in a house a few doors down from him. Pandora seemed to be every where.

There were a few times during the weeks before everything really started when Gil swore he saw Oz, but chalked it up to nerves and usually went back to what he was doing. He had tried to follow the body, usually ending up in a dead end with someone giggling on a roof top. They usually got away after that, leaving Gil pissed off and even more depressed, so he gave up. Alice took up hanging around Gil, mostly pestering him, but in a sort of kind way. He knew she was hurting just as much as he was.

And then, there was the pain. Gil got it in his left hand, the hand that he used to break the seal on Oz. Alice had it as an ache, all over her body. That was, of course, after she got sick. Even after she got better, she was still sickly. She threw up every few days, and coughed a lot. They wanted to just blame it on Bronchitis, but both Alice and Gil knew it was something more. Something was happening to Oz and they were powerless to stop it. Gil revealed to Alice, at one point, the dream he had every so often, the Rabbit admitting that she too had seen it every once in a while, but never as much as Gil did. But life continued on for a few months after Oz's disappearance, Pandora searching endlessly for him.

Then, almost suddenly, it happened. A waking dream, you can call it. Pandora had called a meeting between Break, Sharon, Alice, Liam, Raven, and the four house heads, thought the Vessalius family skipped out, when, in the middle of it all, roses started appearing. One by one until they were piled the middle of the room. They were piled on top of each other, offering no peek inside, offering no clue as to what was going on. Gil's heart ached, practically screaming at him that there was something off. Alice had a look similar to what Gil was feeling.

Standing up, Rufus Barma called for attention. Taking the role of leader, he ordered one of the lesser Pandora members, a woman by the name of Angeline, to clear away the roses. She nodded reluctantly and moved forward, pausing mid step when a hand appeared through the roses. It was small, and child-like, and beckoned to her. With a nod from Duke Barma, she took it, screaming bloody murder when she was pulled inside. Her scream stopped suddenly, being replaced by a giggling. The pile of roses fell finally, revealing the poor woman now sitting on the floor giggling. In her arms was a toy, a life-like one, that she refused to give up. Break though, was able to sneak a look before practically tearing it from her arms. The toy was a perfect replica of Oz Vessalius, down to the pores. The toy was wrapped in rose vines, the only roses on it being around his neck and forehead, imitating a sort of crown. His clothes were a mix of red and black, the black being the biggest color, besides the redness of his cape. The cape he wore was of a dark red color, imitating blood almost. But those gathered knew what it meant.

The Baskervilles.

The toy jumped from Break's arm suddenly, laughing hysterically. _"What a lovely welcome from Pandora!"_ It said, even imitating Oz's voice. _"I certainly hope that Oto-san will get an even better welcome!"_ It said, giggling loudly. Gil stood up, almost snarling. "Who are you and what have you done-Mmph!" He was tackled by Liam, who looked nervous. Break glared at Raven before turning to address the thing dancing in front of him. It felt like Oz, but at the same time it didn't. "Who is your Oto-san? And who are you?" He asked politely, the thing grinning. _"Good Question, Break-chan!"_ It said, dancing over to the blind man. _"I am Oz Baskerville, formerly Oz Vessalius." _It said, nodding its head.

To be continued…

Pandora Postscript! *Pandora Chibi's parade around, Break in a towel only, Oz dressed the same way as last time, but joined by a toy of himself dressed the same way*

Ah~ Another chapter finished! I hope it lives up to your guys' standards oAo. It was typed up in two days, a Sunday and the Monday after that.

Some information about upcoming chapters: Soon, I'll be using music in the chapters (stuff like Sonatas or Minuets or Fugues and stuff like that) so, if I do, I'll post a link for it at the end, and make a notice of when to listen to the song. I wanted to see if I could attempt something like this, just to get people more into a mood. (I hope it works. Leave a review telling me what you think about my idea.)

In any case, I should stop typing. I hope this was a good chapter. Only about half of it was beta-d, so I tried at least. See you next time!


	3. Chapter 2 - Raven wakes up

A Tale of a Baskerville – Chapter 2 – Raven wakes up (Aka, the Authoress searches for some filler before the good gets going)

There was a moment of peace, blissful unawareness, though Gil knew something was wrong. There was something itching at the back of his mind, telling him to wake the hell up, to find Oz and keep him safe. But he couldn't wake up. He just kept floating in the too peaceful peacefulness. The itching increased, turning into a blinding pain that blocked out everything else. Then he remembered. Remembered what had happened only recently: That Oz was a Baskerville now, and that he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

Gil screamed, more from the pain of not being able to see Oz than any real sort of pain, and sat up. His scream ran through his ears, sounding as if there was an alarm going off, and also sounding very much like a desperate man, someone who had lost everything important to himself. Break, who'd been sitting on a chair minding his own business, for once, toppled over, yelping. "Raven! You're awake finally!" He seemed to not know whether or not to be happy, excited, nervous, afraid, or a hodge podge of them all. Break forced himself to calm down, settling for happy, and then went back to attending to Gil, who looked confused himself. "…Why am I naked again?" Gil asked quietly, rubbing his throat with a slightly pained look on his face. "And why does my throat hurt?" He demanded to know despite Break shuffling him into his showering area. "One, you had a fever, and two, you were having screaming nightmares." Break explained, keeping it simple. "How long have I been out?"

Gil was surprised to hear that it had been a week. A week since that…that _thing_ had shown up and wrecked their lives. A week since they'd been told that there may not be a chance to help Oz. A week…

Gil yelped when Break conviently dumped a bucket of cold water over his head, the mysterious blind man promptly disappearing into a nearby cupboard. Gil managed to spew out a curse around his chattering teeth; it was a cold morning after all, sulking into his bathroom before yelping again. "Break!" He shouted, or at least tried to, weakly throwing a towel at the man, who was sat in the tub. "Out. Now. Go." Gil said, sighing quietly. He was getting tired of the blind man's antics. "Shouldn't you be tending to Sharon?" The dark haired man asked as he attempted to get him to leave. All he wanted was time to himself, time to think. There had to be a way-

"-ave to stop spacing out, Raven." Break was saying, clearly a little worried as he shuffled him into the tub. "I know you don't like me here, but it's necessary. And Sharon will be fine. Liam is watching her for me." Break explained to the glaring dark haired man that was known, obviously, as Raven instead of Gil. "Then can I at least take a bath on my own?" Raven countered, scowling at the bubbles that seemed bent on engulfing him. "Fine fine. I will wait outside." Break sighed, left the room, shaking his head gently.

Once into the main room, Break plopped back into his chair and sighed yet again. What he hadn't told Gil was what had happened to that infernal doll that had called itself Oz. Instead of fully disappearing, the thing just shut down and refused to 'restart.' It got to the point that, even if taken outside of the room, it would appear back in its spot. Pandora eventually gave up and sealed the room. As a further irritation to Pandora, and Break, rose bushes, with some mean thorns, started sprouting where ever they could. That was the reason Break had volunteered to watch the rather unstable Raven. He'd wanted to keep him, and his own self, away from those areas. Granted, that would be a lot harder than it looked…

The blind man was dragged out of his thoughts when he heard the tub draining, making him sit up straight again. The door to the bathroom opened and Raven trudged out, hair sticking out everywhere and a towel wrapped around his waist. Break smiled, more to cheer the other up, and stood up. "Ready to go then~?" he asked cheerfully.

((Authoress' note: Hi guys. I'm back. Sorry for the gigantic wait. I'm extremely, extremely sorry about that. A lot of things have changed for me and I've just been trying to get a job and the important things like that. (And get health care.) But I promise to get back to this. As a bonus, I can tell you that I know what I'm going to write and that I'll probably be posting more often. As for this chapter, it's more of a filler chapter before the action. I hope it's alright. ._. I'll be going now. Don't forget to leave reviews telling me what you thought. Feedback is greatly appreciated. :D))


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